Wednesday - What An Amazing Day at Pensacola!

Ken and I left the hotel at 8:30 and drove the 35 minutes to the entrance to the Pensacola Naval Base to meet Dan and Jackie.  We followed them to the hanger where Dustin has his office.  There we met up with the rest of the "gang" including Dan's sister's Darlene and Sandy, Jackie's brother, Randy, Dustin's wife, Leticia and their children, Teya and Cael, plus Letitia's parents, 2 aunts and uncles.  What a great group!

Leticia took all of us to Dustin's office to wait for him to return from his last flight as a member of the US Navy.  He got back later than planned because the plane had engine troubles when they got to their breakfast destination and another plane from the base was sent for his return flight. 

Entering the Naval Base!

Dustin's hanger on the base!

Dustin's office is the windowed area and it overlooks the tarmac!

His photo hangs everywhere in the hanger building!

This is the back part of his office.....

....and this is his desk area!

This is the plane he has flown in during a lot of his career!

When we walked down to the tarmac, we had the opportunity to see the hanger and all the planes he commands!

These are the airplanes that pilot trainees fly under Dustin's
command!

When his plane got near the runway, the pilot circled once and then landed within 100 feet of where we were all waiting.  He was greeted with ice water (Dustin said he was thankful they repaired the ice machine last week - Not!) and champagne shower to celebrate his last flight. 

This is Dustin's last flight with one of his pilot trainees!
They are saluting us!

...and here comes Dustin!

We are all waiting for him to depart the plane!

The celebration begins - cold water and champagne!

Dad and mom are so proud!

And so is his son, Cael!

Then we all went back to a room near his office where he hammered his wings onto the "wall of fame"!

Hammering his "retired" wings into the wall....

....and then writing a brief messaage!

After changing clothes he joined us on the tarmac where we had the privilege of watching the Blue Angels practice their entire routine right over our heads - it was amazing and we had a "ring side" view!

The Blue Angel pilots are heading to their planes!

.....and they are off!

Here we go!

Returning at the end of the show - amazing!

I was impressed by Ken's fantastic photos!

Following the "show" Ken took some photos of Dustin with his parents and then all of us had the opportunity to go to the Officers Club on base for lunch.  It was delicious and so reasonable.  

Lunch at the Officer's Club

Dustin had to leave  to go to a rehearsal for tomorrow's change of command and retirement ceremony.  Ken and I followed Dan and Jackie and their sisters and brother to their hotel (about 25 minutes from ours) to play cards and chat.  

Then it was off to a Happy Hour with hors d'oeuvres  at the Fish House only 5 minutes from their hotel. It was on a deck overlooking the water and a beautiful evening for a celebration.  We had so much fun spending time with folks we hadn't seen for quite a while.

Ken and I were back to our room by 9, did some reading, and it was off to bed.  We were so thankful we were invited to this celebration and were able to attend.